The “Battle of Gettysburg,” which hangs in the Governor’s Reception Room of the Minnesota State Capitol. It depicts the desperate, heroic, charge of First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment on July 2. The charge by 262 men resulted in some 75% casualties but bought valuable time for reinforcements to plug a hole in the U.S. line on Cemetery Ridge.
How can you pick one? Conrad Wise Chapman’s Hunley image I like, Winslow Homer’s “Prisoners From the Front,” and his “Skirmish in the Wilderness,” too. Am a fan of Robert Knox Sneden’s work ’cause he survived Andersonville. Mort Kunstler has some works on my list, too, how could he not. Hoping some new unseen works show up, it’s only been 160 years.
My favorite is Gordon Phillips picture titled “A Most Wonderful Raid” depicting a mounted J.E.B. Stuart, Lemat revolver drawn, riding down a Virginia country lane at the head of a column of his troopers. I have it hanging over my desk. It was the featured cover art for my first published magazine article in America’s Civil War many years ago and my wife bought it for me in celebration.
The “Missionary Ridge Cyclorama” painted by three German artists and a team of assistants about 1883-1886. A significant portion of this artwork was on display at the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park when my family visited in 1997.
My personal favorite is the painting of the VMI cadet standing triumphantly waving a Confederate flag on a captured Federal canon at the Battle of New Market in 1864.
Pretty much anything by the great Don Troiani, but after spending last week in Gettysburg including a Wheatfield deep dive, I’ll pick “Saving The Flag,” his painting of the last moments of Col. Harrison Jeffords of the 4th Michigan.
‘Burial of Latané,’ (pronounced as in “matinee”) the gorgeous painting of the funeral of Captain William D. Latané, 9th Virginia Cavalry, CSA, the only trooper of Jeb Stuart’s to be killed in his ride around McClellan in June 1862.
In 1864, William De Hartburn Washington rendered the burial scene at Westwood plantation on a 36″ x 46″ canvas. Brought there by his brother, John, the mistress of the house, Mrs. William Spencer Roane Brockenbrough, promised him that his brother’s remains would be interred in a Christian burial and lovingly cared for. Mrs. Brockenbrough sent for the family minister, but Federal pickets refused to allow him to pass the lines, so Mrs. Brockenbrough and her sister-in-law, Mrs. Willoughby Newton, read the service, watched by their children and slaves, strewing the grave with flowers. In later years, Mrs. Brockenbrough stated that a Methodist minister had joined the procession to assist with the burial.
The classic painting became an icon in the post-war South, reproduced throughout the land, and hung in mansions, hotels, taverns, bars and humble dwellings. Of Latané was written,
No man of God might read the burial rite
Above the “rebel”—thus declared the foe
That blanched before him in the deadly fight,
But woman’s voice, in accents soft and low,
Trembling with pity, touched with pathos, read
Over his hallowed dust the ritual of the dead—
Yikes! How is that even possible. There are so many but if one has to name one (or two) I shall put forth 1. The Gettysburg Cyclorama and 2. The Battle of Spottsylvania (Bloody Angle, May 12, 1864), by Thure de Thulstrup.
What is your favorite painting from the Civil War?
The Gettysburg Cyclorama
The painting of the battle of Gettysburg that now lives at the Gettysburg museum is number one just for its sheer size and detail.
The Peacemakers
Grant and His Generals
The High Water Mark (Gettysburg) by Mort Kunstler c.1988
The “Battle of Gettysburg,” which hangs in the Governor’s Reception Room of the Minnesota State Capitol. It depicts the desperate, heroic, charge of First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment on July 2. The charge by 262 men resulted in some 75% casualties but bought valuable time for reinforcements to plug a hole in the U.S. line on Cemetery Ridge.
Opdycke’s Tigers by Don Troiani … the first CW print i bought.
That is my favorite Troiani painting as well!
The Atlanta cyclorama & narrative
How can you pick one? Conrad Wise Chapman’s Hunley image I like, Winslow Homer’s “Prisoners From the Front,” and his “Skirmish in the Wilderness,” too. Am a fan of Robert Knox Sneden’s work ’cause he survived Andersonville. Mort Kunstler has some works on my list, too, how could he not. Hoping some new unseen works show up, it’s only been 160 years.
My favorite is Gordon Phillips picture titled “A Most Wonderful Raid” depicting a mounted J.E.B. Stuart, Lemat revolver drawn, riding down a Virginia country lane at the head of a column of his troopers. I have it hanging over my desk. It was the featured cover art for my first published magazine article in America’s Civil War many years ago and my wife bought it for me in celebration.
The one where Grant, Lincoln, Sherman and I believe Porter on a riverboat.
That is The Peacemakers and it is my favorite as well. 🙂
The “Missionary Ridge Cyclorama” painted by three German artists and a team of assistants about 1883-1886. A significant portion of this artwork was on display at the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park when my family visited in 1997.
My personal favorite is the painting of the VMI cadet standing triumphantly waving a Confederate flag on a captured Federal canon at the Battle of New Market in 1864.
Pretty much anything by the great Don Troiani, but after spending last week in Gettysburg including a Wheatfield deep dive, I’ll pick “Saving The Flag,” his painting of the last moments of Col. Harrison Jeffords of the 4th Michigan.
‘Burial of Latané,’ (pronounced as in “matinee”) the gorgeous painting of the funeral of Captain William D. Latané, 9th Virginia Cavalry, CSA, the only trooper of Jeb Stuart’s to be killed in his ride around McClellan in June 1862.
In 1864, William De Hartburn Washington rendered the burial scene at Westwood plantation on a 36″ x 46″ canvas. Brought there by his brother, John, the mistress of the house, Mrs. William Spencer Roane Brockenbrough, promised him that his brother’s remains would be interred in a Christian burial and lovingly cared for. Mrs. Brockenbrough sent for the family minister, but Federal pickets refused to allow him to pass the lines, so Mrs. Brockenbrough and her sister-in-law, Mrs. Willoughby Newton, read the service, watched by their children and slaves, strewing the grave with flowers. In later years, Mrs. Brockenbrough stated that a Methodist minister had joined the procession to assist with the burial.
The classic painting became an icon in the post-war South, reproduced throughout the land, and hung in mansions, hotels, taverns, bars and humble dwellings. Of Latané was written,
No man of God might read the burial rite
Above the “rebel”—thus declared the foe
That blanched before him in the deadly fight,
But woman’s voice, in accents soft and low,
Trembling with pity, touched with pathos, read
Over his hallowed dust the ritual of the dead—
Yikes! How is that even possible. There are so many but if one has to name one (or two) I shall put forth 1. The Gettysburg Cyclorama and 2. The Battle of Spottsylvania (Bloody Angle, May 12, 1864), by Thure de Thulstrup.